I’m a four-time nationally certified trainer with over 20 years of experience. I’ve also spent the same amount of time writing fitness and health articles for hundreds of print and online publications including HuffPo, MSN, Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle and many more.

In the process, I’ve talked to the top leaders in the field of weight loss, fitness and health. I even won a couple of awards.

Through my 61 years on this planet, I’ve learned this important fact: A fit body after 50 isn’t about being skinny, being about to leap tall buildings in a single bound or outrun your grandkids. It's about being the best version of YOU, so you can do what you want with ease, energy and strength.

I'm here to help you achieve that.

Pour yourself a cup of green tea, dive into my blogs, check out my programs and let me know how I can help you. I believe in you!

How to roll out tight muscles

The past few weeks I talked about ways to stay fit and avoid gaining 150 lbs while quarantined with stockpiles of canned ravioli and buckets of cookie dough ice cream.

I’m taking it back. All of it.

Well, except for the canned ravioli comment. That’s literally all of us.

Because while I try to remain optimistic regardless of rain, snow, locusts and global catastrophes, I’m losing this battle.

I feel as if I’m constantly fighting off a wet blanket of depression – one of the weighted kind that’s heavy to begin with. I can lift off a corner or two but it’s not long before the whole king-sized weight crashes on me the minute I let down my guard.

As much as I try to make light of all this mess, it’s slowly seeping into my system… like when you sit on a wet bench but don’t realize it until it creeps its way into your pants and you stand up and everyone laughs because you have a ginormous wet spot on your butt.

Like that.

Can you relate?

If so, the (sort of) good news is we’re not alone.

Turns out, not being about to live life as we knew it four weeks ago (let’s have a moment of silence for that lost era) triggers an actual grieving process.

To make matters worse, many of us (*raises hand*) feel guilty because we know others are having a way worse time than us.

But experts say “loss is loss,” regardless of the size (see the above link for details).

The (kinda) good news: It’s totally normal.

Give yourself some slack.

Take care of yourself the best you can.

But don’t beat yourself up for not being productive/ not working out and/or for eating half the emergency rations you’ve stored in front of your secret stash of toilet paper in your bedroom closet.

Yup, I see you.

So if you gain a few pounds (as I’m sure I have by now)… let it go. (Yes, it’s still me, I haven’t been taken over by an extraterrestrial.)

Personally, I’ve stopped weighing myself to avoid putting more pressure on myself because I can’t get to the gym.

Perspective, my friend. It’s what this situation gives us.

Having said that, I wanted to awkwardly segue here a way to unkink tight muscles from being less active than normal… foam rolling.

Stretching is great but using a foam roller works muscles differently.

You don’t need an “official” foam roller, either.

A tennis ball in a sock works similarly. HERE’S THE ROLLER I USE (a link from my Amazon store, where I earn a small commission).

In case you haven’t seen a foam roller, it’s exactly as it sounds: a log-shaped piece of hard foam, typically 36-inches long, although you can get a smaller, half-size version.

They’re traditionally white, but once fashionistas caught wind of them they’re now available in just about every color, some with bumps, ridges and a host of other accouterments to ensure your muscles never forgive you.

‘Cause here’s the thing: If you use it correctly, it hurts like the dickens (not Charles Dickens, since these torture objects did not even exist in his time).

It’s not comfortable until the session ends and you feel better.

Here’s how it works: Lying or pressing a body part over a foam roller breaks up the fascia surrounding the muscle so the muscle — (warning: grossness ahead!) picture the white tissue surrounding a chicken breast — is able to stretch more effectively. It helps increase blood flow to the muscle by getting rid of adhesions in your muscles.

Even sounds painful.

It’s why the technique is referred to as self-myofascial release, a.k.a. Self-massage. Research shows it can improve athletic performance, speed workout recovery, and decrease muscle pain.

In other words, it’s a good hurt. Some manufacturers offer softer foam rollers if the standard ones are too much to start.

Here are the general rules of foam rolling:

Use it before your workout as part of your warm-up and/or after your workout to speed recovery and ease muscle pain

Roll over it slowly and pause at “trigger points” points in the muscle that are particularly painful; breathe and try to relax the muscle to allow the foam roller to gently loosen the knot

Move on to other parts and repeat

Include it along with traditional stretches, in addition to or in place of, whenever you feel you need to untie some serious knots

Remember to breathe! We tend to hold our breath when stretching and foam rolling, but breathe into the stretch and focus on relaxing the muscle to get the most out of it